Chambers rebuilt knees, then team in pursuit for Manitoba title

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This article was published 08/02/2019 (2747 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VIRDEN — Corey Chambers just might be the Bobby Orr of the Manitoba curling community.

Now, with all due respect, the fine thrower from north Winnipeg hasn’t revolutionized his game of choice in any appreciable way. No photos exist of him flying horizontally through the air after a draw to the pin to score one in an extra end of a history-making matchup.

In fact, a pair of busted-up and rebuilt knees is really the only comparison one can draw between the legendary NHL defenceman and Chambers, who picked up one injury shooting hoops and another in a fun football game. The affable 32-year-old skip, competing at the 2019 Viterra Manitoba men’s championship, went through surgeries to both large leg joints well before his 27th birthday, just like the Bruins famous No. 4.

Chambers had ACL reconstruction on his knees just months after losing the 2013 provincial men’s final while playing third for Sean Grassie. It was world-class specialist Jeff Stoughton who performed that painful on-ice procedure six years ago in Neepawa.

The legendary Charleswood curler executed a microscopically thin double-takeout to score a decisive deuce in the ninth en route to a 7-4 victory over Grassie’s upstart gang from Deer Lodge. (A heavy dose of anesthesia was administered in the Patch not long after the operation, to be sure.)

To interested observers here this week, Chambers appears to be of sound body. The Selkirk occupational therapist guided his team from the Lorette Curling Club to three straight victories to collect one of eight spots in the playoff round at Tundra Oil & Gas Place, home of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Virden Oil Capitals.

But he’s dealing with some soreness, particularly in the later ends. Truth is, the knees, already scarred up from surgeries, are falling apart again.

“They’re actually both torn again, but somehow it’s a little more manageable,” Chambers said Friday morning, just minutes after downing Brandon’s Terry McNamee in an A-side qualifying game. It’s his eighth Manitoba championship, and first calling the shots and throwing the brick. “I don’t really think about it. There’s pain, but I take an Aleve before every single game to make sure I can survive the entire thing. If we go to an extra end, they’d really start to hurt.”

A couple of things happened not long after that stinging loss to Stoughton. Six weeks later, he skipped a mixed team to the brink of a Manitoba title, only to lose — wouldn’t you know it — to Grassie. “One of us was going to lose two finals that year. It turned out to be me,” Chambers said, laughing.

Then during the summer he opted for double surgery. “They basically said I could ruin one summer or I could ruin two, so I just chose to ruin one and have them both repaired,” Chambers said. “I took the whole next curling season off and started playing again (in the fall of 2014). Now, I’m back to being not so good.”

Yet, his game keeps getting better and better, although some terrific results this season have been generated rather unexpectedly. He and long-time lead, Stuart Shells, recruited Chambers’ cousin, Julien Leduc, along with Devon Wiebe to play third and second, respectively, and the foursome was an overnight sensational on the local circuit.

“We’ve had instant chemistry. We won a couple of events early and we’re still rolling now, so it’s good, To be honest we’re making clutch shots at the right time. Everybody’s pitching in, whether it’s a huge sweep by the front end or a big shot by (Leduc), everybody’s playing really well,” said Chambers, the Viterra’s eighth seed.

He and his teammates won three Manitoba Curling Tour events, including the Atkins Classic at the Assiniboine-Memorial Club where they dropped their first two games before rattling off seven straight victories. They also prevailed at a Viterra berth bonspiel in Minnedosa and later at an event in Carberry.

“When we get on a roll, we really get on a roll,” said Chambers, who openly admitted he longs to own a buffalo crest. “I’ve still got the (2013) finalist trophy in my bedroom, so I look at it every single day. That right there is motivation. That experience gave us the extra confidence that we belong out here, that we can play with anyone.

“I can’t think of anything that tops that. It was definitely the most pressure-filled moment of my career, and I’d really like to get to that exact same moment and give it another go.”

Stoughton’s triumph came in the rematch of the 1 vs. 2 game, grabbed by Grassie the day before. Grassie, eliminated from the ’19 Viterra on Thursday evening, said he still credits Chambers’ tremendous vision in the house for making that initial victory possible.

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“We were down one with the hammer in the 10th and I was just going to draw for one to tie it. But Corey saw the shot for the win. We had a rock top-12 and they were in the eight-foot. I made a short runback and rolled the shooter in for a deuce,” he said. “I made the shot but he saw it was there.

“He’s a really good strategist, can see all the angles. He’s probably the best I’ve ever played with for calling line. He’s just an all-around great player.”

On Friday night, Chambers continued the hot streak with a 6-2 triumph over Steen Sigurdson of Gimli in a playoff-round opener.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell